


Dopamine

by Lue4028



Series: The Most Dangerous Chemical [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen, John Watson - Freeform, Johnlock Fluff, M/M, Sherlock Holmes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2014-10-27
Packaged: 2018-02-22 22:32:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2524085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lue4028/pseuds/Lue4028
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock acting cute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dopamine

John enters the lab, and passes a few students as he crosses over two his section. Britt sees him and her face lights up.

“Hi John.”

“Hey- oh, I have the lab report and the prelab,” John separates the protocol from the two assignments and hands them to her.

“Oh. Okay. Thanks.” She accepts the stapled papers and relocates to her stool by the sink.

John walks over to his lab drawer. Lawrence  has set up his separatory funnel and is boiling a flask of water on a hot plate. Denise is reading the lab manual. John acquires a heating pad from the cabinet below the hood, plugs it in, and sets a beaker of water to boil. Chloe comes in, hands the TA the due report and prelab, and situates her apparatus and heating pad next to Lawrence.  They talk about how it feels like cooking.

John goes to the bench by the window to retrieve four tea bags and lets them steep in the water. He leans his elbows on the metallic rim of the counter and watches a brown tint permeate the water. It’s caffeine extraction day. It’s a good day.

John is running the tea through his second watch after two dichloromethane extractions, when Sherlock saunters in approximately fifty minutes late, and to John’s surprise, actually starts working on the class protocol for that day.

He multitasks, managing several concoctions at once (several of which are unnecessary for the purpose of the class but will apparently serve to reduce losses by ninety four point seven eight seven plus or minus six percent), working on some unnecessarily dense calculations for the lab report, and writing incomprehensible notes on the board that may have nothing to do with the lab. Despite all this, he can’t seem to stay balanced on his feet. He wobbles while handling the six molar NaOH, with makes John nervous.

Sherlock arrives at John's side by their fume hood after running his caffeine through rotary evaporation. “Vacuum flask and a test tube.” Sherlock holds his hand out, expecting the supplies to manifest out of thin air.

Sherlock has gotten into his mind that John is somehow his assistant, and seizes every opportunity he gets to use him as one. One of the many ways Sherlock is taking advantage of their new ‘friendship’.

 

“Sherlock. Are you high?”

 

“Define high.”

 

“High. As in high. Are you?”

 

“I finalized the three four hydroxyphenethalamine agonist the other day. I’m studying its effects.”

 

 “I’m sorry, what?”

 

“It’s quite hard to stay objective using myself as a test subject though. Neurotransmitters have a way of distorting ...things.”

 

“Sherlock- you injected yourself with-“

 

“Elevated body temperature, impeded muscle coordination, and euphoria, does that look sound to you?” Sherlock asks, reviewing his scribbles on the white board, pressing the end of his whiteboard marker pensively against his bottom lip. Sound isn’t quite the descriptor John would use for the madness Sherlock has written.

 

“Those are your symptoms? Sherlock, what if fever means neurotoxicity?”

 

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”

 

“Jesus.”

 

“Did you get contacts John? Your eyes are a… _alluring_ shade of blue today.”

 

John is taken a back for a moment. “I.. uh.. Thank you. Yours too.”

 

Sherlock beams, intoxicated but charming nonetheless. John stares back at him speechlessly.

 

“Okay, I’m taking you to the health office,” he digresses.


End file.
